Patagonia Beer And The Beer Makers Behind it...

Friday, November 15, 2013

California Route... That's the beer. It's an organic lager that is super good and in a pretty can and named after a famous climbing route in Argentina. We brewed it with Patagonia to celebrate their 40th anniversary (which, no kidding, is this year). New Belgium has always been full of Patagonia fans. You can't walk through the brewery with brushing up against (at least) seven pieces of Patagonia apparel. And that's not counting the puffy coats hanging on the backs of chairs. So when this collaboration came through everyone was jumping up in down in our (perfect for jumping) Patagonia shoes.

Here is Patagonia.com talking about the namesake:

"The name of our beer pays homage to the California Route on Patagonia's Mount Fitz Roy. First climbed in 1968 by Yvon Chouinard, Doug Tompkins, Dick Dorworth, Lito Tejada-Flores and Chris Jones, the California Route is considered a Patagonia classic, with good rock and fun free climbing in a wildly beautiful setting."

And here is New Belgium talking about the beer:

"California Route is an easy going, organic, California Common. Boasting a California lager yeast with subtle fruity esters and a refreshing, light lager finish, California Route is canned for adventure. Crack one and inhale an aromatic blast of citrusy Cascade hops and heavy dose of Nobel Hallertau. This is a super great tasting and refreshing beer that screams after-fun-fulfillment."

Pretty cool, huh? We have been talking about this beer all week on the social nets, and the biggest question is: where is it available? (Now for the bad news.) This beer is super limited. Like, super-duper limited. Patagonia will be serving samples of California Route on the day after Thanksgiving (aka: BLACK FRIDAY!!! (or: November 29th)). It will be pouring at some of their stores. Here's a list: Seattle, Portland, Lincoln Park, Palo Alto, Boston, Cardiff, Denver, NYC (Meatpacking District, and the Bowery), Santa Monica, San Francisco, Dillon, and Austin. You, dear reader, can check in with Patagonia's Facebook pages for further details as the big day gets closer.

Then, if you want to buy a sixer, things might get a bit more complicated. We have shipped it, and it is out in the world, and the data is now feeding its way into our Beer Finder. But it was a really small batch, and it will not go everywhere. I wish that wasn't the case, but it is. I can say, with certainty, that we are selling it in these states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Washington DC, Delaware, Georgia, Indiana Illinois, Idaho, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin. And, again, the Beer Finder will continue to update as California Route makes its way to stores in those states.

Otherwise, I hope you can find it because it's really good and Patagonia is a super cool company.